Disorder in the court; problems attributed to ‘first-day glitch’

I arrived at the gleaming new 13-story courthouse in downtown Stockton promptly at 1 p.m. for a scheduled 1:30 p.m. arraignment hearing. My timing was perfect because the doors were just then unlocked, allowing several hundred people clamoring outside access to their very important business inside.

Three metal detectors — one more than the old courthouse — got people in as promptly as possible. It took me about 15 minutes, but that was understandable considering it was the first time the building was opened to the general public.

I entered the large, well-lit atrium lobby and quickly found the airport-style reader boards that directed me to my case. Very nice, very easy to understand.

A large elevator, one of eight, whisked me up to floor 7, where signs directed me to my assigned Courtroom 7C — Judge Ronald Northup’s arraignment court. While waiting in the hallway, one can’t help but be impressed with the multiple views through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Arraignment is the first stop for someone who is arrested to have their day in court and address a judge. They learn of their charges and are asked if they understand those charges. They are asked if they need an attorney or if the court must appoint one. And they are asked to enter a plea to their charges, among other things.

As nice as the court facility is, things started going awry quickly with the process. Those of us allowed into the courtroom early — district attorneys, public defenders, clerks, bailiffs and media — learned there was a problem getting the inmates into the courtroom. Before the public is allowed inside, the inmates must be brought in, seated and chained in a holding area behind a large glass pane. For a reason no one could initially explain, that didn’t happen until 2:25 p.m. — 55 minutes after the scheduled hearing time.

Later, Judge Robin Appel explained that there was a construction problem with the holding cell where inmates are kept when they first arrive at the courthouse after being transported from the County Jail in French Camp. She could not say when that holding cell would be fixed.

Once the hearings began, it didn’t take long for two deputy public defenders, Jonathan Fattarsi and Lisa Smith, to realize that communicating with their clients over the top of the glass wall was unacceptable and they publicly objected to the process.

On two attempts, Smith left the courtroom to meet with her client in different rooms designated for attorneys and clients, only to learn that the intercoms were not working.

Where the inmates are held is under the jurisdiction of the court bailiffs and not the judge. For that reason, it appeared Judge Northup was hamstrung in resolving the situation, so he took the unusual step at 3:04 p.m. — 27 minutes into the hearings — to call for a recess.

Something must have been worked out, because at 3:20 p.m., a bailiff unlocked the door to the inmate holding area and allowed Smith inside to speak with her shackled client. Two minutes later, she was done and came back into the courtroom, where the judge resumed the hearing.

Contacted later by phone, San Joaquin County Public Defender Miriam Lyell said the issue was not anticipated but she believes it was “temporarily resolved.”

“The problem is with the acoustics in the holding area. With the microphone on — or off — voices still carry out into the courtroom depending upon where in the courtroom you are. It’s an ongoing issue,” Lyell said.

“As long as the courts are patient and allow us to talk to each client in an interview room — but currently the intercoms are not working. They are talking to the contractors now. It certainly was a problem before Judge Northup allowed Lisa Smith into the holding area. Interviews are never completely private,” she said.

Lyell considered it “a first-day glitch” that she expects to be resolved soon. “We just have to be patient,” she said.

Judge Appel said of Day One: “I think it went amazingly well. I was pleasantly surprised. We realize there are a lot of things that still need to be fixed and they are things that are fixable.”

One of the most obvious of those visible to the public were the nonworking, extra-long escalators between the first and second floor where the court clerks are located. Appel said they should be working by Wednesday.

Contact reporter Joe Goldeen at (209) 546-8278 or jgoldeen@recordnet.com. Follow him at recordnet.com/goldeenblog and on Twitter @JoeGoldeen.